


Going Home, The Long Way 'Round

by Weissnichtwo (LoudenSwain713)



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Angst, Break Up, F/F, Fluff, I mean. It's Doctor Who so who's to say this isn't partially canon, I'm Bad At Titles, Minor Violence, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protectiveness, Really it's, Sad, Self-Defense, Slightly - Freeform, Tags Are Hard, The Doctor has a pet, Young Love, also
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:28:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21635878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoudenSwain713/pseuds/Weissnichtwo
Summary: In which, in the aftermath of a murder, Theta leaves Gallifrey, and Koschei, for greener pastures.Their most recent regenerations had not been their first time as females, but neither of them had talked about, had scarcely thought about, that first life in centuries.
Relationships: The Doctor | Theta Sigma/The Master | Koschei (Doctor Who: Academy Era), The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/Missy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Going Home, The Long Way 'Round

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, I wrote this at 14 and have edited it only minimally before posting because I felt I needed to get /something/ out here. Enjoy!

The sun was high, the red grass drying in the unrelenting heat. A spry cervine creature leapt by, followed by a blond girl in orange robes, a mirage of flame across the landscape. “Zelos! Come here, boy!”

The creature, his tongue wagging, slowed, turning so his flank was to the girl. She skidded to a halt before she ran into him, slinging an arm over his back and nuzzling into his fur. “Don’t run so fast, boy. Your legs are longer than mine,” she said, panting from their sprint through the grasslands. 

She surveyed the landscape around her and envisaged the prairie filled with the joyful laughter of children. A longing for camaraderie swelled within her for a moment before it fell quickly away, drawn back by the calming content of sunlight on burning grasses. But the silence was broken by another flame, the yards between them disappearing as she arrived.

“Theta! Theta, what are you  _ doing _ ?” she scowled.

Theta grinned at her friend, her sunny visage quashing the pernicious annoyance threatening to build in the other girl. “The  _ sun’s _ out, Koschei! The air is crisping! Isn’t it beautiful?”

Koschei sighed. “What’s beautiful is the look that’ll be on your face when you realize you missed our tactical exam.”

Theta’s eyes widened, jaw dropping slightly. “Today? That was today?”

Kochei snorted. “ _ Yes _ , it was today. Of course, I missed it too, out here looking for you.” The glance she held had no trace of malice, just a fond exasperation. She extended her hand. “C’mon. If we go now, we’ll make it back in time for dinner.”

The shadows stretched long across the ground, dark fingers reaching from the forest like slivers of nightmare. The evening birds sang their songs, loud and startling in the eerie dusk. They weren’t going to make it back in time. Nonetheless, Koschei walked with easy aplomb through the trees, ignoring the gentle tug of resistance Theta offered.

“Kos, I don't know about this. Why can't we just...go around?”

The last time Theta had been caught outside after sunset, she’d huddled under the relative security of a nearby tree until Koschei had finally found her, hours later when the sky was more morning than night. She squeezed Theta’s hand, warm and comforting. “It's alright; this is the quickest way, you know that.”

Theta nodded, finding solace in the warmth of Koschei, and resigned herself to contend with the lurking shadows.

They walked for a time, silent except for the crunch of leaves. But then the branches rustled, and a large boy, taller than either of them, slunk into view, a martial tension in his stance. “Fancy seeing you two here, with no one else around. Convenient, isn't it?”

Koschei stepped, not so subtlety, in front of Theta, hand flinging out behind her in an attempt at protection. “What do you want, Torvic?” 

“You don't deserve that inheritance of yours. You think you're some honorable heir of the Oakdown family, but really you're just a  _ disgrace _ . Prancing around with this mutt from a family with no inheritance.” The boy glared at the both of them, the look on his face reminiscent of a great predator enraged that his meal has escaped capture for so long.

Koschei laughed. “Is that what this is about? I can pay you double what you get monthly. Triple. It's a trifle. Go home.”

Torvic shook his head, paused, and then leapt for them. Koschei pushed Theta out of the way but wasn’t quick enough to avoid being hit. The larger boy flung his fists in a rabid way, not caring where they hit as long as the girl underneath him was squirming in pain. In his position he was a devotee to the order of violence, caring only to inflict injury. He went to his task with zeal, mind becoming numb to everything but the feeling of his fists hitting skin.

This was why he didn’t notice the small blonde creeping up beside him, limbs shaking at the scene in front of her. Theta never got into a physical confrontation when she could talk her out of them, but this was  _ Koschei _ ; she would not stand by. The rock came down before she could really consider the consequences of her actions, again and again until there was blood where there shouldn’t be, too much of it. A wild, desperate thought, at the sight of Torvic’s skin rippling with gold from the trauma of the blows, tempted her to keep going, to cut him off from regeneration forever. The thought of it, safety for her and Koschei, without the threat of the bully that had been tormenting them for years, was incredibly alluring. But the sight of the other girl, lying bloody on the ground, controlled her attention.

Koschei squinted upwards into the amenity of Theta’s face. The hand extended to her was a boon in the swath of pain that surrounded her, and she clutched at it desperately.

“We need to get out of here,” Theta whispered, no trace of her suave confidence as the forest darkened and the blood on her hands congealed. “We have to go, Kos.”

They didn’t pause for even a moment to recuperate, gripping each other tightly and running away from the nightmare behind them.

The scene followed Theta for weeks, until finally she could stay no more. The food she ate held no sustenance and succeeded only in pulling her deeper into the darkness. The darkness devised a plan, to run away to the stars and never go back to that forest. She took nothing with her, except for that picture of her and Koschei in front of the Academy.

The coal-black plains lightened to red with the first rays of sun, and Theta winced at the image of Koschei her mind bombarded her with. The girl would wake up alone in a cold house, half of the closet empty, an empty picture frame, the fields around them quiet except for the solitary braying of Zelos. She would rouse the Lord of the house, frantic, and their calls would echo until their voices were hoarse and their clothes drenched in summer sweat. But she couldn't stay, couldn't live with the blood on her hands, so she left towards the docking bay.

The look on Koschei's face was scrutinizing, accusing as she took in the information all too easy to infer. “You're leaving?” The deduction left her shocked, gasping for lack of belief.

The wind had died down to a soft breeze, cold on her skin. But inside she was hot, her blood burning, her viscera roiling. The recipient of her outrage was almost alluring in the bluish light of the docking bay. “I can’t stay here anymore!” she spat, verve coloring her cheeks. “Not after-” she stopped, vitriolic in her refusal to admit what she had done. She scanned the ships in front of her, running toward the one on her left.

“I will destroy you!” Koschei yelled after her, her eyes filling with tears. “Every planet you land on, I will subjugate. Every people you save, I will decimate. I will become your every fear; I will embody your nightmares.” But her voice broke on the last word, and she wrenched her gaze away. She couldn’t stand the heat between them slowly cracking with cold. Not yet.

  
Millennia later, Theta would still feel deep regret for creating the despot Koschei had become. What would have been different, had she stayed? Would they have explored the universe together? Would Koschei have finally started the garden, full of exotic, alien plants, she’d been trying to since childhood? It didn’t matter now. She would take in a companion in the subconscious hope that  _ this time _ she would make up for the crimes she was responsible for. But of course so one ever lived up to her childhood friend. Time and time again, her charge would succumb to one horrible fate or another, and Theta would again see Koschei’s face, crying and broken, as she stood alone in a spaceport on Gallifrey all those years ago.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! As always, kudos, comments, and constructive criticisms are appreciated.


End file.
